Hi, I’m David Berry
I am an author, speaker, leadership coach and organizational executive who believes without reservation that human beings deserve a human workplace.
For 30 years I have enjoyed the privilege and great satisfaction of working with leaders and teams at all levels to bring this vision to life and I am grateful to you for your interest in me and my work.
Currently, I lead the People & Culture function at MUNICIPAL Apparel, LLC, speak and coach through my consultancy, RULE13 Learning, LLC, and lecture in the College of Business at California State University at San Marcos. This variety of experiences and engagements places me squarely in the middle of the conversations that are shaping the future of organizational life and leadership.
My first big leadership opportunity came in 2005 when I was invited to join TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company where I eventually became the company’s first Vice President for Leadership and Organizational Development. My team established TaylorMade’s Learning Center, the heart of which was a leadership coaching initiative in support of the company’s extraordinary growth from $600M to $1.6B in revenue.
I graduated from that experience in 2013 and launched RULE13 Learning, LLC where I continue to coach consult, and speak to leaders who are hungry to lead more human, and much more change-ready organizations. Along the way, I have authored two books, A More Daring Life: Finding Voice at the Crossroads of Change (2016) and More Human Than Otherwise: Living & Leading with Humility (2022).
I joined the College of Business Administration at California State University San Marcos as a lecturer in 2016, starting an affiliation that has been a powerful highlight of my career. Daily, I am challenged by dynamic and driven students to support their learning by expanding my own. I have taught courses on creativity, entrepreneurship, and organizational behavior in addition to coaching and mentoring students as an “Executive in Residence.” Currently, I co-teach one of the college’s flagship courses, “In the Executive’s Chair,” an interview-based seminar featuring senior leaders from across the Southern California region.
I am proud to have had my work featured in the Training Magazine article, “Crafting a Coaching Culture,” the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations and The Completely Revised Handbook of Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2012).
I hold certifications from the Hudson Institute of Coaching and the Institute for Conversational Leadership. I also attended Loyola Marymount University where I earned a bachelor’s in humanities and a master’s in education. While there I sang in the university chorus, an extraordinary experience in the creation of beauty through teamwork made even more meaningful because it’s where I met my wife, Theresa. We have three adult children, a couple of sweet dogs and a lot of gratitude for good health and many happy friendships.
“All who are willing to lead have work to do in understanding our motivations, values, strengths and opportunities.”
“The most important opportunity is to remember that our leadership is in service of the people we get to lead. It is, in other words, not about us.”
“Falling down is ok. It’s how we learn. Our job is to equip ourselves with the right resources to get back up again…with confidence, having learned the valuable lessons necessary to go forward.”